Public Comments

Hello Friends, In the interest of preserving the voice of North Fork Valley residents and protecting the watershed we share with Gunnison County, keep the districts drawn as they are currently. I have lived in the North Fork Valley of Colorado for most of my life, and have ancestral ties here. The Paonia community I am proud to be a part of has taken the long view toward quality of life and environmental regeneration. We know that WATER will be increasingly scarce and fight to keep it from being squandered or polluted. There are signs posted in front yards all over the Nort Fork, pleading that industry not be allowed to steal our water. Mesa county has not taken a water conservation stance. Many thousands of letters have been sent in the last few years by North Fork Valley residents to our county commissioners, legislators, and state and federal agencies in attempts to protect air quality, drinking water and AGRICULTURE, the growing base of our fertile valley. We are an engaged and aware constituency. Our democracy guarantees our votes carry weight, but the propsed redistricting lines would certainly diminish that right. The communities of Crawford, Hotchkiss, and Paonia work tirelessly to preserve and enhance our resources of clean land, air, and water: habitat for life to flourish. Tied to this goal are education, art, recreation, small businesses and community hubs such as KVNF radio station, The Creamery, The Blue Sage, Valley Organic Growers Association (VOGA), The Learning Council, CItizens for a Healthy Community (CHC), The Kids' Pasta Project, The NorthFork Valley Creative Coalition, High Country News, The Western Slope Conservation Center, and more. The mission of the North Fork Recreation District (a Colorado Lottery Award winner) is to "Enhance healthy lifestyles, Build strong families, and Provide a sense of community pride." We all share these goals. All of the organizations I mentioned have ties to greater Delta and Gunnison Counties. Mesa County is geographically too distant to be in our sphere of influence and interests. The proposed redistricting runs counter to Constitutional redistricting rules: * Compactness- The North Fork Valley is not close to Mesa County. * Contiguity- The North Fork Valley is not close to Mesa County and the two counties do not share a water-shed, school districts, roads, economic goals, policies, or culture. * Equal population- The North Fork population is dwarfed by Mesa County. * Preserve existing political communities- North Fork concerns and policy directions are unique, based largely on our economy and geography. * Partisanship- Again, our pressing concerns are distinct from those of Mesa County. Our voice would be silenced in Delta County, the county we live in, if we were melded with the Mesa County voting district. I thank you for your work, and hope that you will keep the current district dividing lines between House Districts 54 and 61 intact. Otherwise, why be a good citizen and vote, when the voice of the North Fork would be smothered by a more populous district with prerogatives we do not share? M. Young P.O.B. 614, Paonia , Colorado

Please do NOT combine Douglas County with Jefferson County. DougCo's views are vastly different from Jeffco's on a variety of issues and trying to merge them with us would ensure chaos and crisis. As the parent of an elementary schooler who has immunocompromised family, I was beyond relieved at Jeffco Health's mask mandate which keeps our schoolchildren safe. I would not be able to tolerate living in or with a district like DougCo which doesn't support common sense public health measures. Their views are dangerous and unwelcome. Keep them separate from us please!

Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I would ask you to reconsider the way Longmont is treated in your proposed map of state Senate districts. Longmont has been part of a Senate district encompassing all of eastern Boulder County. We have learned how much we have in common with the rest of the eastern county when it comes to policy concerns. But your Proposed map splits up this community of interest in two separate districts. And it puts Longmont in the same district as SW Weld county. I imagine residents of SW Weld also worry that they will be separated from other parts of their county, breaking up their community of interest. This proposal does not meet the test of keeping political subdivisons together. By combining Longmont with SW Weld, your map puts together two areas that have little commonality of interest on many public issues. Indeed they often have distinctly different sets of policy concerns. The topic that gets the most public attention is health regulations, including issues of oil and gas drilling regulation, mental health services, and how to combat the pandemic. There are also significantly different concerns on other topics, such as human services, public transportation, affordable housing, and natural resources. Asking one person to represent both sets of concerns in the state senate means that neither set of concerns would be very well represented. I have heard from residents of Jefferson County that they have similar kinds of concerns when they look at the proposed Congressional map, which would have a single Congressperson trying to represent both Jefferson and Douglas counties. I have been told that this would create the same kind of problem I see with combining Longmont and SW Weld county in one district; that is, asking one elected official to represent two quite different and often conflicting sets of policy concerns. I hope you will look at that issue seriously as you draw the final Congressional map. Thank you.

I am from Pennsylvania, but through Dave's Redistricting App, I was able to create (what I found to be) a fair district map for Colorado, using new census data. Since redistricting in any state affects everyone in every state, I set out to fight for fairness through redistricting.

Submitted August 20, 2021 Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions Attn: Legislative Redistricting Commission Re: Preliminary Legislative Redistricting Maps for proposed State House District 53 and 55 and Senate District 6 and 7 Dear Commissioners, Citizens for a Healthy Community (CHC) respectfully opposes the preliminary Legislative Redistricting Maps for proposed State House District 53 and 55 and Senate District 6 and 7 for failure to combine communities of interest along specific geographic, transportation, infrastructure, watershed, and economic interests, and minimize the number of divisions. The purpose of these comments is to ensure fair and effective representation of the North Fork Valley and the Gunnison River Basin. Article V, Section 48.1(2)(a) of the Colorado Constitution requires the Commission to preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns, as much as is reasonably possible. Where a community of interest’s legislative issues are more essential to the fair and effective representation of residents of the district, division of political subdivisions is allowed. In addition, when the Commission divides a county, city, city and county, or town it is required to minimize the number of divisions of that county, city, city and county or town. While we recognize that the preliminary maps were drawn based on estimated population data, and will likely change once the 2020 Census data is applied, the preliminary Legislative Redistricting Maps for proposed State House District 53 and 55 and Senate District 6 and 7 do not satisfy Article V, Section 48.1(2)(a) because 1) they divide Delta County and the North Fork Valley in a manner that does not reflect communities of interest based on specific geographic, transportation, infrastructure, water, and economic interests, raising the spectre of gerrymandering; 2) they divide the county four times between the preliminary State House and Senate districts, which does not minimize the number of divisions. 1. North Fork Valley Background The North Fork Valley is comprised of three towns, Paonia, Hotchkiss, and Crawford, located in Delta County on the Western Slope with an estimated municipal and unincorporated population of 10,000. Geographically, the North Fork Valley is tucked between the West Elk Mountains to the east, the Grand Mesa to the North, the Black Canyon to the south, and the canyons and high desert to the west. The North Fork Valley has developed a unique identity and reputation regionally and nationally based on its fruit production, organic and sustainable agriculture, ranching, and biodiversity. The North Fork Valley is connected by Highways 133 and 92 and a complex hydrology and irrigation infrastructure. Historically, the North Fork Valley has been an agricultural and coal mining community. There is currently limited natural gas extraction in Delta and Gunnison County, however the area is targeted for increased development, which is incompatible with the community’s transition away from fossil fuel extraction as a source of economic development. Most recently, due to the closure of two coal mines, the economy has transformed to one based on sustainable agriculture and tourism, creative arts, outdoor recreation, health and wellness, and renewable energy. The North Fork Valley is surrounded by public lands, and its watershed originates on public land in Gunnison County. The Gunnison River Basin and surrounding public lands define the community’s character and economy including landscape, unique biodiversity, recreation, hunting, fishing, ranching, and sustainable agriculture. The North Fork Valley is critical to Colorado’s food security as the largest concentration of organic farms in the State, largest fruit production in the State, and a model for regenerative and restorative agriculture. It is also home to the West Elks American Viticultural Area and the highest-altitude vineyards in North America. The Farm to Table movement in Colorado started in Paonia. The recreation economy includes hunting, fishing, hiking, and water sports. The North Fork of the Gunnison River has been designated 1 of 15 rare and irreplaceable ecosystems in the United States. The agricultural and recreation economies all depend on water from the Gunnison River Basin. Paonia Reservoir, which provides irrigation water for 500 farms and families in the North Fork Valley, is located in Gunnison County. The Gunnison River Basin has been warming at an alarming rate. Six of the seven counties that make up the Gunnison River Basin have warmed more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (Delta, Gunnison, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray, and Hinsdale), and four of those six counties have warmed more than 2 degrees Celsius (Delta, Mesa, Montrose, Ouray). Transportation-wise the North Fork Valley shares a tourism, recreation, agritourism, and creative arts economy with Carbondale, Crested Butte, Gunnison and Hotchkiss, which is connected via the West Elk Scenic Byway, which consists of Highways 92, 133, 135 (Kebler Pass) and US 50. In addition, Highway 133 from Paonia, across McClure Pass to Redstone, is the 2nd most geologically unstable highway corridor in the state after Glenwood Canyon. The North Fork Valley shares specific geographic, transportation, infrastructure, water, and economic interests with Gunnison County that are not reflected in the preliminary State House District 53 and 55 and Senate District 6 and 7 maps. 2. Community of Interest Article V, Section 46(3)(b)(I) of the Colorado Constitution defines Community of Interest as “any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of state legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation. (II) Such interests include but are not limited to matters reflecting: (A) Shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; and (B) Shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance.” In 2018, Colorado voters expanded the traditional definition of community of interest as defined by Colorado Courts. Historically, communities of interest in Colorado have been defined as “distinctive units which share common concerns with respect to one or more identifiable features such as geography, demography, ethnicity, culture, socio-economic status or trade.” As “community of interest” has been highly litigated in the past, we can expect the expanded definition to be litigated. Therefore, our comments focus on specific objective and defensible criteria, which are missing from the preliminary maps. The preliminary maps put the North Fork Valley in a district with Mesa County and a portion of Garfield County in proposed Senate District 6 and House District 55, respectively. This preliminary district mapping makes no practical or representational sense as the North Fork Valley does not share common watershed, infrastructure, transportation, or economic interests with Mesa and Garfield Counties. While Delta County may share common legislative issues with Mesa and Garfield County via Club 20 and Colorado Counties, Inc., the North Fork Valley does not share common public policy issues that are critical to its future with these counties. For example, Mesa and Garfield County actively worked against Senate Bill 19-261 and House Bill 19-1266, which ushered in expanded protections for public health, safety, welfare, the environment and wildlife, and set statewide targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, respectively. These counties continue to work against implementation of these bills that would secure expanded protections for our residents. In contrast, current House District 61 and Senate 5 do not include Mesa and Garfield counties, and more specifically, keep the North Fork Valley and Delta County watershed, and the Gunnison River Basin counties intact in a single district. While Article V, Section 46(3)(b)(II) considers shared rural and agricultural policy concerns, it is important to note that not all rural and agricultural communities are equal. The North Fork Valley practices a different type of agriculture for example from western Delta County, Mesa and Garfield County. The North Fork Valley predominantly practices small-scale, organic, sustainable, regenerative, diversified agriculture, which results in very different legislative priorities than large-scale commodity agriculture. While ranchers in the North Fork Valley may share similar ranching concerns with other ranchers outside the valley, based on industry dynamics, they do not share the same watershed, which ultimately determines their future. Given the defining nature of the North Fork of the Gunnison River stem of the Gunnison River Basin to the North Fork Valley, placing the North Fork Valley in a district that does not represent its watershed effectively deprives the North Fork Valley of fair and effective representation. The North Fork Valley’s interests will be most effectively represented with a State House and Senate district map in which the North Fork Valley is at a minimum (whether Delta County remains intact, or split along the current dividing line between House District 54 and 61), within a district that extends to the edge of the watershed and Gunnison County’s borders, or at a maximum, the entire Gunnison River Basin should be preserved in one legislative district to include Delta County (whole or split) with Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray, Hinsdale and Saguache Counties. In addition, this configuration is supported for the following specific geographic, transportation, infrastructure, water, environmental, and economic reasons: • The Gunnison River Basin originates on public lands and in Gunnison County. See Attachment 1: Gunnison River Basin Map. • The North Fork watershed, Gunnison River Basin and surrounding public lands define our community’s character and economy, including landscape, unique biodiversity, recreation, ranching, and sustainable agriculture. See watershed video: https://vimeo.com/551649033. • The North Fork Valley shares a tourism, recreation, agritourism, and creative arts economy with Carbondale, Crested Butte, Gunnison and Hotchkiss, which are connected via the West Elk Scenic Byway (Highways 92, 133, 135 (Kebler Pass) and US 50). See Attachment 2: West Elk Scenic Byway Map. • Highway 133 from Paonia, across McClure Pass, to Redstone is the 2nd most geologically unstable highway corridor in the state after Glenwood Canyon. • The North Fork of the Gunnison River has been designated 1 of 15 rare and irreplaceable ecosystems. See Attachment 3: Too Wild To Drill, pages 12-13. • Region10, the regional and community economic development resources organization, includes Delta, Montrose, Hinsdale, Gunnison, Ouray, and San Miguel counties. See Attachment 4: Region 10 map. • The 7th Judicial district: Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel. The 7th Judicial District includes the 4th Division Court, which is set up specially to handle matters related to water from tributaries to the Gunnison River from its headwaters to the Colorado River. The geographical area of the District is approximately 10,000 square miles of mostly high mountain valleys. https://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/District/Index.cfm?District_ID=7 • The West Region Wildfire Council promotes wildfire preparedness, prevention and mitigation education throughout Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray and San Miguel counties. These counties work together to mitigate loss due to wildfire in wildland urban interface communities and foster interagency regional partnerships to help prepare counties, fire protection districts, communities and agencies to plan for and mitigate potential threats from wildfire. See Attachment 5: West Region Wildfire Council map. Please see proposed maps—Attachments 6 and 7 Proposed House and Senate District Maps, which reflects these interests. 3. County Divisions The preliminary Legislative Redistricting Maps for proposed State House District 53 and 55 and Senate District 6 and 7 effectively divide Delta County four times, in violation of Article V, Section 48.1(2)(a), which requires minimizing the number of divisions when a county is divided. The dividing lines for the House and Senate districts differ from each other, and ineffectively divide the unincorporated towns of Paonia, Hotchkiss, Cedaredge and Orchard City. Not only is this line impractical, it is confusing to residents, fragments the community and its watersheds, and places Paonia and Hotchkiss in a district with Mesa and a portion of Garfield County, with which it shares no common interests as described above. For a decade Delta County has been divided between House District 54 and 61. This dividing line is fair, effective, and has benefited the North Fork Valley and Delta County, ensuring representation on the specific issues outlined above. We do not oppose splitting Delta in the 2021 redistricting process. In fact, consistent with Article V, Section 48.1(2)(a), keeping the watershed and ecosystem intact is more important than keeping the county intact. Ensuring representation on the specific issues outlined above is more important than keeping the county intact. However, we do oppose how and where the County has been divided in the preliminary maps. If Delta County is to be split, the dividing line should be the current line between House District 54 and 61 and should be applied to both the newly proposed House and Senate Districts, thereby meeting the requirements of Article V, Section 48.1(2)(a) to minimize divisions and prioritize representation of legislative issues. If the County is to remain intact, at a minimum, Delta County must be part of a district with Gunnison County for the reasons stated above. For a decade Delta County has been part of Senate District 5, which includes Gunnison County, and has resulted in fair and effective representation for the North Fork Valley. 4. Recommendations: As the Commission works through reapportioning districts across the State, we urge you to keep watershed basins and ecosystems intact. The climate and water crisis we are facing is the existential threat of our time. If we are to have any hopes of becoming more resilient and addressing the threats that hotter, drier, more extreme weather pose our agriculture and recreational economy, public health and safety, then district lines must be drawn with the goal of ensuring the representation of watersheds as they function naturally. To ensure the fair and effective representation of the North Fork Valley as discussed above, we recommend a House and Senate District that keeps the Gunnison River Basin intact and includes Delta (whole or split) , Gunnison, Montrose, Ouray, Hinsdale and Saguache. See proposed maps Attachments 5 and 6. The proposed House District map for the North Fork Valley and Delta County reaches the population goal of approximately 90,000 for House districts. The proposed Senate district map does not reach the 165,000 population goal for Senate districts. Our objective is at a minimum to keep our watershed intact, and at a maximum to keep the Gunnison River Basin intact; making the math work by adding other counties is out of our scope, as we recognize that adding counties outside our watershed has the potential to fragment other watersheds. The proposed maps will ensure that we have a voice in the State Legislature when it comes to our water, and the issues that will define our future. CHC appreciates the opportunity to contribute to ensuring a fair and effective redistricting process. Sincerely, Natasha Léger Executive Director Attachments: • Attachment 1: Gunnison River Basin Map • Attachment 2: West Elk Scenic Byway Map • Attachment 3: Region 10 map • Attachment 4: West Region Wildfire Council Map • Attachment 5: Proposed State House and Senate District Map: NFV-Gunnison, Montrose-Ouray-Hinsdale-Saguache (estimates current dividing line between House Districts 54 and 61. • Attachment 6: Proposed State House and Senate District Map: Delta-Montrose-Ouray-Hinsdale-Saguache

To whom it May concern, I had the pleasure of growing up in Jefferson County and attending Jefferson County schools, including Edgewater elementary, wheat ridge Junior high, and Jefferson high in Edgewater. My experiences in this area we're incredibly valuable to me and intrinsically included a wonderful sense of community. I believe growing and sharing with my neighbors helped solidify a commonality between us all and an overall congeniality. It seems we were very United in common goals of what was good for our immediate community. I now live in Denver but have maintained strong ties to Jefferson County, particularly through friends, many of whom are educators. I also participate in crisis intervention training with law enforcement and work frequently in Douglas County. I can honestly say that my experience with the leadership of Douglas County has given me some insight to the stark differences in overall attitudes toward the governance between Doug Co and Jefferson County. Douglas County has repeatedly, over the past year and a half, proven that they feel little to no responsibility for the safety and well-being of their constituents. It also would appear that many of the residents of Douglas County share this pervasive feeling of negligence and lack of any responsibility toward the well-being of not only their immediate neighbors but they're obligation to the world around them as a whole. They have not demonstrated any sense of community be on that of insular self-interest. My experiences in Jefferson County, both growing up and presently, are fundamentally contradictory to those attitudes exhibited by Douglas County. I believe it is a horrible mistake to view these two counties as one voice when systematically we are shown that they are independent in thought of one another and therefore should have independent representation. Honestly it seems like there is an attempt to silence all the voices of Jefferson County so that Douglas County alone can have their agendas pushed. Again, they consistently act in self-interest and allowing them to speak for and marginalize the concerns of Jefferson County appears to be nothing but a heavy-handed political ploy. Ultimately, if it's not broke, don't fix it. The people of Jefferson County should be guaranteed the right to voice and address the concerns of their community rather than having to acquiesce to what a bunch of citizens who do not share those concerns decide to do in their own self-interest. Democracy is hingent on hearing individual voices and this is merely another attempt to stifle those. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Thomas Sturgeon

I adamantly support Eagle County remaining in District 3. Elizabeth Bradley

Eagle County/Edwards needs to stay in District 3!!!!! Please do not group us with Boulder. Vail Valley is unique in what a resort community needs. It must stay separate for that reason and many more. Thank you.

I live in Edwards, Co. and have a business in Vail, Co. AS a member of this community for many years, I found it frustrating to be attached to Boulder which is a very populace city, in district 2, compared to my community in Eagle, Co. Now that we have finally been able to occupy district 3 for several years, I find it very frustrating to consider moving us back into district 2. There several reasons for this. Firstly, our economy and lifestyle is that of a recreational resort. This is quite different, with many different priorities, than a Front Rang city. Our infrastructural needs such as traffic management and parking facilities are very different. Also, our natural resource management, in a ski area, diverge greatly from a high density city's needs. Our employment demands in a seasonal economy are truly different. Our style of policing is very different than in an urban environment. We are also a sports driven community and that affects our school curriculum considerations. I could go on and on with many other differences of priorities but I would rather you simply know that it is important for us to be able to interact and collaborate with other like minded towns whose economies and lifestyles, here in Eagle county, are similar. We can accomplish more, over time, with such communities than be in a tug of war over issues with areas of the state who both outnumber us and diverge from many of our governmental goals. In closing, please allow us to stay in district 3 and include all of Eagle, County. Sincerely, Robert DeLuca

I believe Summit County should be in the third Congressional District. We are a Western Slope community.